Monthly Archives: July 2012

I normally don’t complain on here or blog about things that get me down. I try to stay pretty positive and would consider myself a glass-half full kind of girl. But the recent pain in my lower back has made the last two weeks extremely tough: I’m frustrated that the pain is affecting my parenting abilities. I haven’t really taken my son anyplace lately because of my inability to keep up with him – so no park visits, no walks, no trips to Target or other stores. He’s a vivacious 18 month old who wants to run around and play and the pain is preventing me from allowing him to do this. I’ve also been told by the chiropractor to pick up my son as little as possible. While he definitely prefers to be running around, there are countless times when he wants to be held during the day. How am I supposed to not hold him or carry him up the stairs at bedtime? It’s pretty hard to expect him to understand why mommy no longer can pick him up. I haven’t run since Tuesday, July 10th. Today is Day 11. This is the longest I have gone in Continue Reading →

I think we all have our own version of Everest – that one seemingly insurmountable race or adventure we want to do one day… It’s likely that you don’t go around broadcasting this lifetime goal. Maybe you feel that it would be as crazy as saying “I want to go to the moon”. Maybe you don’t feel qualified. Maybe you are like me and are constantly worried about telling everyone and then failing to accomplish it. Maybe you don’t have a timeline of when it is going to happen. Maybe vocalizing it would finally make seem “real”. But as I’ve learned from previous experiences, vocalizing these dreams is the first step that is necessary to make it become more than just a thought and finally become a reality. I decided to share with you MY Everest. It is all I’ve been reading, thinking, and dreaming about for the last week – not too hard to do since the 35th anniversary of the race was earlier this week. My dream is to race the Badwater Ultramarathon (BW), aka The Challenge of Champions…aka The World’s Toughest Foot Race one day. read more

Thank you to everyone for your positive comments, advice, and support on Wednesday’s post. I’m happy to report that yesterday was a better day. I was more mobile and not in excruciating pain. Today is even better. I also have an ortho appointment for first thing Saturday morning (two hours after we land). Fingers are crossed! ———————————————————– As of 5pm Wednesday evening, our “vacation” to Stowe Mountain Resort hadn’t gone as planned. The pregnancy pain that I talked about on Wednesday forced me (and my son) to stay in the hotel room most of the day. I was able to move around a little more than Tuesday, but was concerned with my ability to keep up with my speedy 18 month year old and/or hold him when he decided he was tired of walking. There’s only so much coloring and reading that an 18 month old could do in a hotel room before he starts to go stir crazy. read more

It’s 630am. My husband and son are enjoying this beautiful scenery and weather as I sit alone in our hotel room. It’s not where I want to be. But, unfortunately, I am in a good amount of pain and am having trouble walking. Let me backtrack a moment. I began feeling some discomfort in my lower back / right buttock area Monday afternoon. I tried to keep off my feet as much as I could for the rest of the day. I attributed it to a busy morning with my son which required me to hold him much more than I have been (with clothes and shoes he is about 30 pounds). I woke up Tuesday and felt good so decided to go for a run. The pain re-emerged within minutes of beginning the run but I was hard-headed and convinced myself that it was probably normal pregnancy aches and pains and so I kept running. Sometime around 10 minutes in, the pain had dulled and I ended up running a slow 7.5 miles. I felt *okay* the whole run – not great but not terrible either. The instant I stopped running, the pain returned – but was a HUNDRED Continue Reading →

Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!! My husband, son, and I are on our way to Stowe Mountain, Vermont for the week!! My husband has a work conference at the mountain resort and we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. I am excited for some cooler temperatures (highs in the mid-70s!!), beautiful scenery, family time, and possibly a pre-natal massage!! —————————————————- Please check out my friend Katie’s blog Mom’s Little Running Buddy today. She has begun a series on her blog called “From One Mother to Another” where she will be highlighting active moms (and dads!). I was super excited when she contacted me a few weeks ago! You can find the link here. ——————————————————- Thank you to everyone who participated in the Sparkly Soul Headband Giveaway! So many of you had amazing plans for the 4th of July – hope they all turned out fun and exciting. read more

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!! My husband and I took our son to the beach for the first time this year. I knew he would enjoy the sand and water, but I wasn’t prepared for HOW much he would love it. It was a perfect day. —————————————————————- I haven’t posted much since last week…I wish I could blame the busy weekend and holiday, but in reality, my lack of blogging has been tied directly to my lack of running. I ran yesterday for the first time in a week – I honestly can’t remember the last time I went SEVEN days without a single run (I didn’t even go that long after my son was born!!). I attempted running five days last week…but due to some pregnancy side affects (I won’t go into detail as it’s TMI for public consumption), I was unable to run. I don’t know if there is anything more frustrating than having the desire to run – setting the alarm each day, getting dressed and even heading outside to stretch – only to find that you physically can’t run. read more

One of my favorite parts of a hard run is the moment the pain arrives. Not pain from an injury. But pain from pushing myself. Maybe it’s my lungs burning during a speed workout. Or my legs when they start to feel the burn from hill repeats. It may just be plain exhaustion when I’m 20 miles into a long run. Or the soreness my legs feel the day after a hard run. Regardless of the type, I have come to expect and welcome the pain. And I’ve taught myself how to keep pushing. The first time I heard/saw this quote was in 2001. I was a sophomore at West Point and had just working out in the gym (I was no longer playing on the basketball team). After my daily cardio workouts, I would head to the mats to do some ab-work. These words were nailed to the wall I looked up at as I was doing my situps. I saw them every day and learned how to embrace the pain (so much so that I once yelled this phrase at my 11-year old sister when I took her to the gym – whoops!). read more